Printing machine



Filed April 5. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN'I'OR June 9, 1931. A.-J. HORTON PRINTING MACHINE INVEN'I'OR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 5. 1929 Patented June 9, 1931 UNITED STATES,

ALiBER'l J. HORTON, 01 WHITE stains, NEW YORK, AssIGNon TO B. HOE & oo., INC., on

NEW YORI N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK PRINTING MACHINE Application filed April 3, 1929. Serial m ssaoss.

This invention relates to improvements :in multi-unit printing machines, in'which the printing members are cylinders.

In large, rotary multi-unit presses, economy of space in the arrangementof the press mechanism in the press-room is of very practical importance to the press user, so that it is desirable that the units be so arranged as to occupy as small a'space as practicable.- These presses are usually operated at very high speeds and itis, therefore,'important that the printing elements should be so mounted as to provide a strong and rigid structure which will withstand the various stresses caused by the high speed or by" any unbalancing of the cylinders, such as the use of plates of unequal weight'c'arried on opposite sides of the plate cylinders.

It is, furthermore, of great practical im portance that the plate cylinders in these machines'be so positioned that they are all readily accessible to the pressmen'forplating, so'that the press may be fully plated-in a minimum amount of time.

It is the specialobject of the present'invention to provide an improved multi-unit press arrangement in which the units are arranged in superposed relation, so as to economize space, in which the units are spaced apart so that ready access to the plate cylinders is obtained, and a press arrangement in which the units are so mounted that a strong, rigid'structureis provided and one well capacitated to stand the high speeds at which these presses mustbe run.

A further object of the invention is to'provide a construction in which the units are similar; that is, each unit comprises hke cylinders and inking mechanism, so that the units may be standardized, thus reducing the cost of manufacture and assembly.v I

With these andother objects not specifical- 1y referred to, the invention consists in certain novel parts, arrangements and combinationsas will be hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings and the novel features pointed outin the claims hereunto annexed. I.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a multi-unit printing machine embodying the invention, the press therein shown being arranged to printon four webs; and

Figure 2 is a slightly modified form of press arrangement which may be used, if desired, when printing on three webs.

Generally speaking, the invention consists 1n the provlsion of a plurality of printing units arranged in line with a space between the. form cylinders ,of the units, and a super It will be understood, of course, that the unitsmay be multiplied to produce a press of the required capacity, but the two arrangements shown sufficiently illustrate the invention and'will now be described.

Referring first to Figurel, there is shown a press arrangement capacitated to print on four Webs, W, W, W W these webs being supplied from asuitable source of web supply, asfrolls, not shown, the feed of the webs being, as illustrated, preferably upwardly from below the press, the webs passing over suitable guide rolls 1 to the printing units.

The press is supported in any suitable manner, as on a base or floor 2. The press units will, in the preferred arrangement, be similar units. These units are arranged in two superposed lines A, B, and the particular arrangement of the's'e'units may be somewhat varied dependingon the product which it is desired to produce.

Referring to the arrangement of Fig. 1 and to the deck or line of units A ofthat figure,; there are provided four units 3,4, 5

ders of the units are arranged in line and each unit is inked by a suitable inking mechanism 10 which is supported by standards 11 rising from a base 12 supported on the floor positioned closely adjacent, these units being en ported on U-shaped standards 14.

ietween the units 3, 4 and units 5, 6 are spaces 15, and the plate cylinders of all the units face these spaces, which are of suflicient width to permitready access by the pressmen for plating the cylinders, thus allowing rapid plating of the press.

Superposed above the line of units A, is a line or deck of units 13, the units of this deck being marked 16, 17, 18, 19. These units are similar to the units of deck A, each including a. form cylinder 7 and an impression cylinder 8, inked by similar inking mechanism 10.

In the particular machine shown, the units 16, 17 are arranged closely adjacent and the units 18, 19 are arranged closely adjacent, a space 20 being provided between the units 17, 1.8 of suflicient width to permit a pressman ready access thereto for plating the cylinders 7 of these units which, it will be observed, face this space.

These units are mounted in frames 9 similar to those of deck A, and are supported by U-shaped frames 21, the legs of which are mounted on bases 22 supported on the frames 9 of the lower units.

It will be observed that with the construction described, the units of each line or deck are, in effect, offset from each other, the cylinders 8 of the units 16, 17, 18 and 19 being above the spaces between the lower units of deck A, and the impression cylinders 8 of the units 4, 5 arebelow the space between the units 17 18 of deck B. This arrangement, together with the U-shaped supporting arms of the standards referred to, provides a stiff, rigid structure capable of withstanding the high speed at which the units run or any stresses caused by an unbalancing of the cylinders, and, at the same time, ample space is provided for plating the press, so that the printing cylinders of each deck can be simultaneously plated, thus providing a very efficient and convenient press arrangement.

The web leads for printing and perfecting may, of course, vary, as desired, depending on the products which the press is to produce. Thus, for instance,-web W, is led around inking mechanism 10 of unit 3, over a guide roll 23, to and around inking mechanism 10 of unit 16, by suitable guide rolls-24, where it is perfected, and from which it goes over suitable guide rolls 25 to the folder, indicated at 26. Similarly, web W is printed by unit 4, perfected by unit 17 web W is printed by unit 5 and perfected by unit 18; and web W is printed by unit 6 and perfected by closely adjacent, and a unit spaced therefrom by-a space 31. These units, like the units of Fig. 1, each includes a plate cylinder 7 and an impression cylinder 3, with the inking mechanism 10. The units 28, 29 are supported on a U-frame 32, and unit 30 is supported on suitable standards 32. The plate cylinders 7 of units 29, 30 face the space 31 in which a pressman may stand to plate the cylinders.

Supported above deck A is deck B which 1 includes a unit 33 and a pair of units 33, 34: arranged closely adjacent. The units 33, 3 1 are supported on a U-frame 35 mounted on bases 36 supported on the frames 9 of the units of the lower deck A. Between unit 33 and the unit 34 is a space 37 in which a pressman ,may stand to plate the cylinders of units 33 and 34 which face this space.

When the arrangement shown in Fig. 2 is used, an additional U-frame 38 is provided for supporting the unit 33, one leg of this frame being supported on the frame 9 of unit 28, and the other legbeing supported on a standard 39 rising from the floor 2, a space l-O being provided between the standards and the plate cylinder 7 of unit 28 to permit ready access to the cylinder. 7

The web leads and the folder arrangement through the press of Fig. 2 are the same as that described in connection with Fig. 1, and need not be repeated.

If desired, platforms 11 may be provided in the spaces between the upper units on which the pressmen may stand for plating these units.

While the invention has been shown and described in its preferred arrangements, it will be understood that other arrangements of the units may be made without departing from the essential features of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

WVhat is claimed is:

1. In a multi-unit press arrangement in which the printing members are cylinders, the combination of a plurality of printing units arranged ipline with a space between the form cylinderswhichthe form cylinders face and a'closely adjacent superposed line of printing units spaced apart to form an aisle space which the form cylinders of two adjacent couples face, the units of each line being so arranged that certain of the cylinders of the lower units are below a space between the upper units and certain of the cylinders of the upper units are above a space between the lower units.

2. In a multi-unit press arrangement in which the printing members are cylinders, the combination of a plurality of similar printing units arranged in line with a space between the form cylinders of the units which the form cylinders face, and a closely adjacent superposed line of similar printing units with a space between adjacent form cylinders which the form cylinders face, the units of each line being arranged so that certain of the cylinders of the lower units are below a space between the form cylinders of two upper units and certain of the cylinders of upper units are above a space between the form cylinders of two lower units.

3. In a multi-press arrangement in which the printing members are cylinders, the combination of a plurality of printing couples arranged in line with spaces between and with the form cylinders facing the spaces, a closely adjacent superposed line of printing couples spaced apart with the form cylinders facing the space, the units of each line being so arranged that certain of the cylinders of the lower line are below the space between the upper units and certain of the cylinders of the upper units are abovethe spaces between the lower unit's, and web guides for guiding a web in a substantially vertical direction through two superposed couples for printing and perfecting.

4. In a multi-unit press arrangement in which the printing members are cylinders,

the combination of a plurality of printing units arranged in line with spaces between, a closely adjacent superposed line of printing units spaced apart, the units of each line being so arranged that certain of the cylin ders of the lower line are below a space between the upper units and certain of the cylinders of the upper units are above a space between the lower units, and web guides for guiding a web substantially vertically after printing in a lower unit to a unit arranged thereabove for perfecting.

5. In a multi-unit press arrangement in which the printing members are cylinders, the combinationof a printing unit the form cylinder of which is on the inside, a pair of printing units closely adjacent with the form cylinders on the outside, a second sjingle printing unit, spaces between the pair of units and the single units toward which the form cylinders of all the units face, said units being arranged in line, a superposed pair of printing units closely adjacent, a second superposed pair of units closely adj acent with a space between, said superposed units being arranged so that certain of the cylinders are above the spaces between the printing units of the lower line.

6. In a multi-unit press arrangement in the combination of a printing unit the form cylinder of which is on the inside, a pair of printing units closely adjacent the form cylinders of which are on the outside, a second single printing unit the form cylinder of which is on the inside, spaces between the pair of units and the single units toward which the form cylinders of'a-ll the units face, said units being arranged in line, a'superposed pair of printing units closely adjacent, a second superposed pair of units closely adjacent with a space between, said superposed units being arranged so that certain of the cylinders are above the spaces between the printing units of the lower line, and web guides for leading the webs from the lower units to the upper units for perfecting.

7. In a multi-unit web press, a plurality of printing couples each consisting of a form cylinder and an impression cylinder, said couples being arranged on two levels with the impression cylinders of two couples adjacently mounted with the form cylinders on each side of an aisle space, the aisle space of the lower level being below the impression cylinders of couples on the upper level and the aisle space of the upper level being above impression cylinders of couples on the lower level, and means to lead the web in a substantially vertical direction between the cylinders to print one side of the web by a couple on one level and to print the other side of the yveb by a superposed couple on the other leve 8. A two level multi-unit web printing press having printing couples arranged in pairs with the cylinders horizontally aligned and the couples of both levels being closely adjacent, with impression cylinders ofeach pair adjacent andwith an aisle space on each side of the form cylinder, the aisle space for the upper level being over the impression cylinders of couples on the lower level, and the aisle space for the lower level being under the impression cylinders of couples on the upper level.

In testimony whereof, I have my hand.

. ALBERT J, HORTON.

which the printing members are cylinders,

hereunto set A 

